Lawyers in the field of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology

Many different researchers agree that the emergence of blockchain technology is the most important event since the Internet.

Blockchain technologies provide a high level of transaction security in an untrusted environment without intermediaries and expensive transaction costs; reliability, validity, and immutability of data, which are distributed among independent participants and do not have a single point of failure; transparency and speed of operations.

Blockchain technology can potentially be implemented in any field of activity related to the transfer and storage of information, data registers, accounting and transfer of assets, rights (financial, tangible or intangible, cryptocurrencies), digital identification, tokenization of assets, creation of new types of decentralized autonomous companies (DAO, DeFI), the introduction of business in automatic mode with the help of “smart contracts”, the creation of NFTs and entire metauniverses, and all this without geographical restrictions.

However, each new technology opens up new opportunities and carries new risks: financial, technological, legal, etc.

Blockchain business –technologies and cryptocurrencies most of the time work in a legal vacuum or regulatory uncertainty, which forces you to constantly be aware of all legislative changes and adapt to the regulatory policy of the state.

Because technologies will continue daily changing entire industries and forcing a rethinking of business strategies, the role of lawyers in the field of blockchain is becoming increasingly important.

Just as theory is useless without practice, and practice without theory is incomplete, technological and crypto-projects are incomplete, and sometimes even useless, without the qualified support of blockchain lawyers.

In this article, we will consider who blockchain lawyers are, in which areas they specialize, and how they can help businesses in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Who are Blockchain Lawyers?

Blockchain lawyers, fintech lawyers, or crypto-lawyers, are specialists with a deep understanding of legal issues related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

They have a unique skill set that combines traditional legal knowledge with an understanding of the nuances of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to help their clients navigate the confusing legal landscape.

For successful professional activity, fintech lawyers must not have perfect knowledge and understand the following areas:

• local and international legislation in the field of blockchain technologies and crypto-assets, including legislation in the field of finance, taxes, securities, anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, data protection and intellectual property, etc.;
• understanding of blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, and smart contracts, including the basic architecture and their work algorithms;
• understanding of cryptocurrencies, tokens, their mining/issue mechanism, placement on cryptocurrency platforms (ICO, STO, IDO, IEO), sale, exchange, storage, use, etc.;
• the ability to identify, prevent, or minimize risks – political, legislative, tax, administrative, and other;
• possess analytical skills, quick processing, and structuring of a large amount of technical and legal information to form clear and understandable legal conclusions for clients and prepare a project roadmap.

The expertise of the lawyers of the company “Prikhodko and Partners” in the field of financial technology legislation covers but is not limited to, the following areas.